Why are we leaking so many goals?

[matty1878]

I agree mate I definitely would play him tonight but what do you do on Saturday the derby couldn't come at a worse time really I know they are not playing well but we were shocking there last season and at one stage I thought we were going to concede 6 or more.
Its not knee jerk with Howard he has always been iffy and for all the plaudits he received against Wolfsburg I was not impressed with his continual punching balls he should have caught.
This is a huge week for Martinez if it goes badly wrong I think his honeymoon period will be well and truly over,we have always worried about his tactical knowhow when it comes to organising a defence hopefully he is still on a learning curve.
Going back to the Keeley derby that shook the club and supporters for a good couple of months ,it took a long time to get the supporters back on side.

Martinez got it terribly wrong there last season mate. He has to come up with something diffrent this time and hope it works

 

[Boss_Blue]

or a goalie with bigger hands

Thomas Mhyre's asian auntie?

 

[degsy]

Karma for our keeper going viral at the World Cup.

Just when we get our hopes up, the universe delivers another anti-Blue kick-to-the-bollocks.

could well be right.

My own theory is that we aren't encouraged to defend from the front.

If we Attack / play it out from the back; Howard on to whoever, then it's only fair that we defend from the front back

 

[Bungle]

 

[Christiffa25]

Howard is a liability now but his replacement Robles scares the [Poor language removed] out of me

How on earth is Howard a liability?? Haha... That must be his first bad game in 12 months!!

Nah I'm not having it....everyone is aloud a nightmare game every now and then.

Jags hasn't started the season brilliantly but I wouldn't say he's been awfull. Stones seems immune to critiszm. Jesus don't care if he was RB or CB you clear the fff'ing ball not let that howler happen.

Unfit first couple of games, howlers in a couple of games. It will all be fine when we're up and running properly.

 

[Lewisefc92]

Its the new floodflights fault

 

[Jimmywhack]

We dont press the ball and give the opposition too much time on the ball

 

[Toffeelover]

or a goalie with bigger hands

Posting that IMO is sick!

 

[Tree13]

I think there are a number of factors with the main one being fitness. I'm not sure what the plan was pre-season but not many of the actual first team seemed to be as fit as they should be when the season started.

Jags was injured at the tail end of last season and then had a bad time at the World Cup mentally. Distin seems to be suffering with injuries as well. But it's not just them, McCarthy doesn't look the player he was last season and neither does Barry. McCarthy lost his man 3 times against Chelsea. Against Arsenal Jags looked out on his feet. Basic fitness should never be an issue at this level.

Everyone knows from their own experiences when you are tired physically, you don't think as quick and I think that has been the problem. Slow in body, slow in mind and players are getting caught out and making mistakes they wouldn't normally make. Once that uncertainty creeps in, then confidence goes, and suddenly no one looks comfortable.

The worrying thing for me is that last season we had loads of soft tissue injuries throughout the season, which can occur when fitness is not at a premium. it's not bad luck that 5 or 6 different players all had hamstring issues. I wonder how they monitor fitness levels and if the players are as fit as they have been in the past.

To add to all that, Martinez system much like brenda and Wenger's, seems to have the full backs bombing on high up the pitch, leaving large areas of the pitch exposed. If your players then don't have the mobility to cover that ground, then you have the Kevin Keegan effect and need to score 3 goals to have a chance. We have also been playing with 2 almost out and out wide players, Mirallas has been working hard to try and add defensive duties to his game, but McGeady and Atsu clearly haven't. This leaves us even more exposed from a defensive standpoint.

Very well-deserved rep for the excellent points above. It's obviously not just one factor, despite the noisy knee-jerkers all blaming Howard.

 

[Sona]

Is this to do being more attacking
is Jags and Distin days coming to an end at a top 7 club?
is Coleman and Baines too attacking?
We have Barry and James protecting the defence and still leaking goals, mad.
Cant put my finger on it? or are just unlucky and to many players are making to many errors or the most worrying reason is Martinez cant organized a defence or we need defenders who can play with the ball and not panic.

Up until the WBA match, the defence was a worry. For that game and the Wolfsburg game, two things changed:

1. Distin was out & Stones was in. (This could just be a coincidence.)

2. We changed the way in which we distribute the ball through the lines from the back.

With regard to point 2, you'll notice that Gareth Barry dropped between the two centre halves to receive and distribute the ball from deep last season, with the CB's split wide and the full backs pushed right up.

I believe that RM was worried by the amount of goals we were conceding and changed things for the WBA, Wolfsburg & Palace games.

You'll notice that now, either McCarthy or Barry actually drops to the right or left of the 2 CB's with the defensive pairing staying narrow in an attempt to minimise space. This worked well in all three games since it was implemented; Palace was an anomaly.

Against Palace, we rarely looked threated during open play and you can clearly point to three individual errors for all three goals.

To summarise, the defence WAS worrying until RM changed the way we use the holding mids. He identified the problem and addressed it. There is nothing we could have done differently for Palace's goals, as these were all individual mistakes. Look at the stats; no other shots on target in the entire match.

 

[Pat's Van]

Posting that IMO is sick!

why ?? it's not real

 

[Toffeelover]

why ?? it's not real

In what way is it not real Pat. Looks like a poor woman has got a genuine health problem. I await your convincing explanation to correct me.

 

[Raino85]

The worse thing is Howard got 4 years left, he was terrible against Palace, hopefully this will inspire him to keep a clean sheet against the rs, even Stoke have a better keeper then us.

Stoke have one of the best keepers in the league

 

[Raino85]

I think confidence is a big issue, as soon as we concede, heads drop, we need a leader on the pitch who can motivate and inspire. This is something I thought Barry did well last year but even he looks lost at the moment. A Peter Reid type character would make a huge difference to this team.

Captain pointy finger phil?

 

[MartSlinger]

Jagielka - Distin: Conceded 2 at Leicester, 2 against Arsenal, 6 against Chelsea. 10 goals conceded.
Stones - Jagielka: Conceded 0 at West Brom, Conceded 1 against Wolfsburg (Best free kick you'll see in a while). 1 Goal conceded.

Distin comes back in and we convieniently concede 3 goals against Palace. The Jagielka - Distin partnership has cost us 13 goals this season, and when Jagielka was paired with Stones against WBA and Wolfsburg he looked a lot better. Therefore, Distin is the problem. Cannot rely on a 37 yr old when you're challenging for the top four. LCB needed in January.